Willing Away Reality
by ilikesaddleshoes
Summary: Shikamaru’s left grasping at straws. Even genius can be deluded for a little while. A quasi-angsty ficlet. ShikaIno?


AN: Hmm, well, it's my second Naruto fic, but the first was only a drabble. BTW, if you don't know…a drabble is 100 words exactly. No more. No less. Spread the word. Anyways, I adore ShikaIno, and.. well, I'm not a fan of ShikaTemari. Of course, one of my fav. characters is Tenten…so it's not too surprising. Here's the thing. I'm not bashing Temari, and if you prefer her with Shika then…don't read this. I happen to like this pairing, so don't tweak cause you don't. You're old enough to make your own decisions, don't foist the responsibility on me, all my pairings are clearly marked. That being said…read on lovelies!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Willing Away Reality

By: ilikesaddleshoes

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

She had died two years ago this Friday.

He could still remember _exactly_ how it had felt to hear the news.

A last minute mission had been assigned while he was out with another team. Damn that infiltrating technique of hers and its huge flaw. There needs to be someone who can protect her body while her jutsu was in effect. That why they worked…had worked so well together. …Shikamaru still had a problem with putting her into the past tense. Still. Idiots! Did they lose all concept of appropriate action when that mission came through? He was capable of performing his Kagemane no Jutsu with limited necessary motion and he had the brains, strength and will to protect her. Their jutsus were suited perfectly for each other – so WHY had they separated them?

Why did they let her go!

Why did they allow her to leave with a team she'd never trained with before! It was too dangerous! She wasn't supposed to be assigned A level missions without him or Chouji! That was the deal in exchange for his working his ass off everyday, Just one stupid...fool had let his guard down and Ino had paid for his mistake with her life. Dead at 23, killed…murdered by negligence!

Elbows on the bar in front of him Shikamaru sighed, moodily staring into his mug. He felt rather Out Of Character.

Every so often he would be approached by a former teammate or concerned acquaintance but he paid them no mind, lost in his musings, the flickers of daydreams claiming his whole attention as the clock on the wall steadily moved it's hands onwards.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The sky was rapidly fading to pitch as he walked, albeit a little unsteadily, out of the bar, narrowly avoiding the woman making her way past who suddenly halted in her tracks and grabbed for his hand.

Looking back the next morning he would only remember flashes seen through a drunken stupor. A curve here, a curve there. Mesh. A Sand hi-ate. The remembered feel of slightly roughened skin beneath his own calloused hands. The slightly wrong shade of blue eyes that made him feel all the more desperate.

But that had not yet come to pass.

His narrowed eyes widened and his body froze momentarily at the sight of the blonde hair, then they were running through side-streets and alleys to his apartment, unsure of who was the one truly leading and only came to a stop when their intermingled bodies fell onto his bed. Time sped up and suddenly they were naked and some distant part of his mind hiccupped and remarked that he had lost control a while back.

But that didn't matter.

It didn't matter because he began to move into the warm, willing body, and hear the soft coos and cries. She didn't call his name. It wouldn't have mattered even if she had; another voice had already taken center stage, sweet in the memories of his mind.

And he could pretend.

His hips had their own rhythm, snapping back and forth, but all he could see were the light shining strands spread across his pillow.

His entire world narrowed down to the primal movement of his body and the way the moonlight streaming in the window highlighted each individual strand.

Moving an arm he lightly stroked the beautiful shanks as he released and shut his eyes, willing away nagging reality as he rocked within her.

And he could pretend.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

END

- - - - - - - - - - - -

AN: Well, hope you all enjoyed! Reviewers get chocolate bunnies and leftover Peeps! Yay!

p.s. please forgive my heinous use of the word "jutsus." I know it's not proper to pluralize Japanese words with an "s", but I didn't know how to do it. bows forgive me.


End file.
